


What If Pulitzer Had Been More Of An Asshole Than Usual

by spot_conlons



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence - Pulitzer hands Jack straight over to Snyder and orders a raid on the theatre, Gen, Graphic descriptions of violence, Specs and Finch are gay dads, Violence, Whump, basically everyone gets beat up a lot, but are too busy getting beaten up to do much dadding, but i hurt them a lot i'm sorry, but i promised i would only kill one person so i did, except jojo cos he has internalised homophobia, i could write an entire other fic about that, i swear i love these children, idfk ok, like seriously it's just beating up newsboys and nothing else, oh and everyone is gay so they all hang out at the slide, which was a gay bar in the bowery in the late 1800s
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 18:20:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10702515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spot_conlons/pseuds/spot_conlons
Summary: ...or AU Where I'm Allowed Children (But I Horrifically Mistreat Them)So it's Act 2. We've just had "the poor gUYS head is spinning". Jack has gone to parlay with Pulitzer. However, instead of Pulitzer offering Jack a chance to go to Santa Fe in exchange for cancelling the strike, he just hands Jack straight over to Snyder, and he's back in the refuge before he knows it.The rally still goes ahead, but is crashed by the cops who are under instructions to arrest as many of the Manhattan newsies as possible after having been shown their pictures in the newspaper. A lot of the newsies from the other boroughs escape, but most of the Manhattan newsies get badly beaten up and then arrested.Basically there's a big fight at the theatre, and each chapter follows a different newsie from when the police enter the theatre, up until they are either arrested or escape, depending on how nice I am to them.





	1. Davey

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick heads up that I have a lot of pre-established headcanons that may crop up, so I will always put them at the start of any chapter they may appear in so y'all don't get confused!

He’s on the stage making his speech when the cops bust in, and - for a moment - doesn’t quite know what to do with himself as he helplessly watches chaos erupt. But as he looks around at the carnage below, the sight of a little figure cowering in the doorway at the side of the theatre jolts him into action, and that overwhelming brotherly instinct kicks in. 

Jumping from the stage, Davey makes a beeline for Les and, pushing his way through a scuffle involving a Bronx newsie and a cop, finds himself blocked by another officer who is headed straight for Finch and Specs. He is torn for a moment, as he can see his brother crouching behind them both, but he wades in and jumps on the cop just as he pins Finch to a wall.

“Get Les and go! Please!” Davey begs Finch over the shoulder of the cop who has a hold of him. He sees Finch hesitate and turn towards Specs, who has a cop of his own to deal with, and Davey knows he desperately wants to help his boyfriend. However, before he can implore him again, a solid blow to the face knocks him against a seat, and he loses sight of Finch, Specs and Les, although he dimly hears Specs telling Finch to run. He thinks of Les, but is understandably distracted by a blow to the ribs, and all thought of his little brother is driven from his mind as the punches begin to rain down on him. 

He finds himself on the floor propped up against the seating as the punches turn into kicks and Davey can do nothing but curl up and wait for it to end, whether "it" is the beating or his life, he doesn’t really care which. But it’s the beating that ends first (although the pain certainly doesn’t stop), and he finds that he can just about breathe despite the blood in his throat. Wheezing, he opens his eyes to see a policeman crouching down to grab his hands and cuff them, and Davey doesn’t resist. He can’t, as the pain has taken all willpower out of him, and all he does as he is roughly pulled up and escorted to a wagon is cry out at the burning pain in his ribs. He doesn’t even remember Les until he’s halfway to the Refuge, and then can only pray that the fact that they’re not sharing a ride means he got away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah, these will probably all be quite short, but they should get longer as I go along.
> 
> Specs next!


	2. Specs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter and the next both mention Specs/Finch as an established relationship a little more. It's fine though, it doesn't affect the angst!
> 
> I also picture the OBC when I'm writing these, so that's why Finch is mentioned as being Filipino in here.

He was standing with Romeo in the aisle near the middle of the theatre, but the minute the cops burst in he is by Finch’s side. Just as well, he thinks bitterly, as he couldn’t help but notice that the Asian boy had attracted two cops to him. He grabs the larger of the two just as he was about to swing at his boyfriend, and notices Davey take the other one just before he is slammed against a wall with a fist in his stomach. Through the pain he can hear Davey telling Finch to take Les and go and he prays that his boyfriend has at least enough sense to do as he says. But no, he notices the grip on his shoulder slacken as he looks up to see Finch fall out of sight behind the cop holding him. Cursing his boyfriend’s stupid loyalty, Specs uses the opportunity of the distracted cop to shout out.

“Dammit Finch, get out of here! Get the kid! Head for the-” but he is cut off as brass knuckles meet jaw with the sickening crack of broken bone. He barely notices the pressure on his shoulder disappear as stars dance across his vision and he sinks to the ground with a whimper. In addition to the pulsing agony in his face he is quickly brought more pain by the foot connecting with his ribs as he is kicked into a corner. In a desperate attempt to fight back, he aims a foot at the legs of his attacker, but the feeble kick earns him nothing more than another broken bone, this time in his foot, courtesy of a viciously swung truncheon. 

As the blows continue to fall on his torso he wants to fight back but instead finds that all he can do is cough blood and try not to pass out from the numb, yet horrific burning in his jaw, ankle and increasingly his ribs. As his pain-fogged brain dully informs him, he knows he has at least two broken ribs (he reflects later on how depressingly familiar he is with the sensation), and when the ferocious attack on his chest and stomach finally ends he almost thinks he has died. But no such luck, and he blearily watches as his hands are cuffed and cries out weakly as he is hoisted to his feet, only to immediately fall down again as he makes the mistake of leaning on his broken ankle. The policeman curses, and roughly pushes him against the wall, much to the dismay of Specs’ already battered body. 

As he lays there catching his breath, the cop evidently makes a decision and mercifully grabs Specs’ unbroken foot, dragging him unceremoniously to a waiting cart. Destination: Specs doesn’t want to think about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do feel sorry for Specs, I am very bad to him. He has at least four broken bones, possibly more depending on how bad his ribs are. Oh dear.
> 
> Finch is next! I realise now I probably should have posted him before Specs, as he Specs and Davey are all quite closely linked at the begnning. So if you want to you can go back and reread the previous chapters after I put Finch up, which will probably be sometime in the coming week.


End file.
